Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-04-21

little promise OF great career. He
was ehristened John Row!a0ds. and
remained John Rowlands until lie was
nearly grown up; and John Row
lands doubtless might have been
made as famous - Henry NJ. STAN
lev" if he had nc. given it up for that
of the New Orleans merchant who
adopted him, but who. dying soon
after, left him nothing but the name.
1t is a good name at all events; better,
undoubtedly, for a famous person than
..Rowlands;" for greatness had already
become attached to it before the great
explorer took it Have we not had a
great statesman, a great ecclesiastic
and scholar who wore it, and has not
Scott given us a line which might serve
! as the motto of our hero.
-'.On, Stanley. ON?
Stanley has never disowued his par
entage. or has he attempted to conceal
the fact that when he was three years
old, his parents dying, he was sent to
St Asaph's poor-house. where he re-
manned ten years and got sufficient
schooling to enable him to teach year
before he sailed as cabinboy for New
Orleans. Denbigh. Wales. was his
birthplace, and 1910 was the year in
which he began his short career as
"Rowlands. As STANLEY he served
in the Confederate army, was taken
prisoner. entered the United States
navy, and became ensign. His expert
ence, both as soldier and sailor. has
been of signal service to him in his
perilous Journeys by land and water in
Africa,
In 1886, after trip as newspaper
correspondent in Turkey and Asia
Minor. he revisited Wales and gave II
dinner to the children of St. Asaph's,
and told them what st. Asaph's had
done for him.
Stanley appears in the picture which
faces the title page of the second vol
ume of his Through the Dark Cont
net, with white hair, which must have
been very becoming to his rlddy face.
A youthful countenance is often made
much more attractive especially if the
features are somewhathard and coarse,
as in the case of our hero, if the softening.
mellowing influence of full crown of
white hair accompanies it. 1t gives an
air of dignity and distinction which
otherwise we would sometimes miss in
young men whose names are associated
with great deeds. 1t is as crown Of
honor and wisdom and gentleness.
Stanley's life in the wilds of Africa
among wild beasts and wild tribes.
with the comforts, the society, the in
fluence of civilization entirely wanting.
in almost constant peril from variety
of sources, and entirely absorbed in the
great task before him, offered little OPP
portunity for the cultivation of the
graces, the sympathies, the amenities
of refined existence though he has had
plenty of royal and noble society in
Europe. A mans face must reflect in
some degree the character of hiAcom-
panionship and experiences, and o it
is with SANKEY'S.
The characteristic which most im-
presses you before he begins to talk, is
logged determination. You see it in
the lines of his firm-set chin, in the
full. bull-dOg-like cheeks, in the care
lcssiy cropped hair, in the short,
compact, iron frame, and in the
full, well-kardened muscles. You see
still more of this logged determination
in the play of the muscles of the mouth
in speech, which constitutes his chief
facial expression. He should have
clear, penetrating eyes, but 1 must
confess neither noticed or thought of
his eyes when l saw him and heard him
speak last December. His figure, his
bearing, his quick commanding tones,
his chin and his mouth. especially the
mouth. seemed to me, rs looked and
listened-for men will listen when
Stanley talks-to be the decisive ele-
ments in the makeup of the man.
His hair and mustache, are now the
hue of the raven, and yet color-art
does not proclaim itself to the unin-
formed observer. Why he should
think it worth while to practice this
little deception cannot imagine. He
could not possibly look like an old man
with SO ruddy countenance; and the
effect of white hair would only bright
en- its pleasing, healthful glow. But
Stanley has as good right to whim
or two as other men. He might have
far more Objectionable.
The picture l have spoken Of repre-
sents him as he appeared in 1877, soon
after he emerged on the West Coast
from his terrible experience on the
Congo with ferocious savages and
famine. The difference between
this and the picture in the
first volume of the same work
taken in England, in 1874, before he
started on his memorable jour
ney from ocean to ocean. is most |
In those three years (the
time occupied from Zanzibar to the
mouth of the Congo was nine hundred !
dan ninety-nine days. his hair became,
white under the awful strain. and !